Why is it everywhere you look here on GBATemp you see that copyright violations (sending say, Nintendo's base.wad file for making channles) is illegal. It's not. There's no criminal code against it. Period. It is NOT illegal!

Yes, you can be sued by the owner of the copyright, but you cannot go to jail, nor will the police bust in on you and haul you off to your local state/county prison.

Can we stop with the illegal word please?? Not Authorized is much better... since the person posting Nintendo's code is not authorized to do so.

Well most people see illegal as something that can get you brought to court, fined, or thrown in jail. I say illegal since it's easier to with one hand since I'm too lazy to spin far enough to reach all of the keyboard.

As you can see, I'm not a native English speaker, so maybe something slips under my radar... but what's the difference between something that is "not authorised" and something that is "not allowed by the law", that is, "illegal"? I'm not trying to raise a fuss, but I think those terms are pretty similar, if not completely, aren't they?

If I go into a store, and go into a door that say's "Authorized Personel Only", I won't go to jail because I'm not Authorized... I'll just get kicked out of the store.

If I were to go into a store and TAKE something, yes, I'll probably go to jail.

Copyright violations never TAKE anything. You only COPY the information. The only known copying that I can think of that will put you in jail is counterfeiting money. Because you actually steal something at that point... Your stealing merchandise with money that is not real.

If I go into a store, and go into a door that say's "Authorized Personel Only", I won't go to jail because I'm not Authorized... I'll just get kicked out of the store.

If I were to go into a store and TAKE something, yes, I'll probably go to jail.

Click to expand...

But in the first case you won't go to jail because that person who doesn't allow you to go into that room is not the law. He has the right to allow or not allow someone in his property, but not to send him to jail. If the law forbids you from doing something, then it's both illegal and not authorised by the law. If we talk about what the current legislation stipulates, both terms refer to the same thing, don't they?